Foot type high lift jack



April 17, 1956 l. v. K. HOTT ET AL 2,742,257

FOOT TYPE HIGH LIFT JACK Filed Deo. 26, 1952 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 f' so T "J 59 El flo rE I 34 32a. 0 o fea O u ,46" 14a l 28 o g5 INVENToRs.

April 17, 1956 l. v. K. HOTT ET Al.

FooT TYPE HIGH LIFT JACK Filed Dec. 26, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 I are @lala i, n I

April 17, 1956 l. v. K. HOTT ET AL 2,742,257

FOOT TYPE HIGH LIFT JACK Filed 1360.26, 1952 4 sheets-sheet s April 17, 1956 Filed Dec. 26, 1952 l. V. K. HOTT ET AL FOOT TYPE HIGH LIFT JACK 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 #inegi/ZA United States Patent 'i 2,742,257 Foor TYPE HIGH LIFT JACK Ion V. K. Hott and David M. Goldzwig, Dayton, Ohio, assgnors to The Joyce-Cridland Company, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio This invention relates to a foottype high lift jack and more particularly' to afoot type high lift jack` that is portable and adapted for heavy duty, as for example, for use in lifting diesel engines, although not necessarily so limited.

In roundhouses and in railroad yards it is at times necessary'tolift or raise heavy loads. The equipment required to raise thesel heavy loads must, of necessity, have suiicient strengthfto carry the load and be portable, so that the equipment may be moved into operative position with a minimum amount of labor and, at the same time, be so balanced that in moving the equipment from place to place the chances of the equipment tipping or falling over are reducedl to a minimum.

more from the lloor, creates a hazard if it is not well balanced. In order to facilitate the ease vof handling,

light weight of the equipment is an important factor.

An objectof this invention is to provide a foot type high lift jack that is made from light weight materiaL and at the same time provided with suflcient strength that it is capable of raising heavy loads through a considerable distance without danger of upsetting. .This has been accomplished by making many of the parts from light weight metal, such as alumiurn alloy, the parts being so designed and the structure so balanced and reinforced that stressesin the frame' structure are held `to a minimum.v AA comparatively large flat base is used, adapted to` be seated directly on the concrete or ythe floor or on the ground. Another object ofthis invention is vto provide wheels fortransferring the jack from one place to another, thewheels being mounted upon movable frames or supportsthat` may be mechanically driven from inoperative position into operative position, or vice yversa'.

Another object of this invention is to providea frame assembly to properly guide the lifting foot, which frame strength. This has been accompl-ished by using,aluminumA `alloy vl-beams as verticalframe's, braced byllight-,weight It is important for` the sake of safety, in that equipment that weighsv `thousandsof pounds and extends upwardly eight feet or t 2,742,257 Patented Apre 417, 1956 ICC Other objects and advantages reside in the construction of parts, theV combination thereof and the mode of operation, as will become more apparent from the following description.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the foot type high lift jack. f

Figure 2 discloses a support adapted to be used in' association with the foot of the high lift jack shown in Figure 1. g

. Figure 3. is a vertical cross sectional view of the high lift foot jack.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, enlarged, detail, cross sectional view of the jack screw and parts associated therewith.

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Figure 3. y Y v,

Figure 6 is a frarnentary, front elevational view of the base with parts broken away.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the mechanism used in raising the high lift upon wheels with the foot at high level, with parts broken away and other parts shown in section. f

Figure 8 discloses a plurality of high lift 'jacks used in lifting a locomotive or a Diesel engine, as the case may be.

VReferringto the drawings, the reference numeral 20 i indicates a base plate forming'a bed Vfor a high lift jack.

On the underside of the base plate 20 are positioned a plurality-of foot pads 22 upon which the base plate rests when the jack is in actual use. p' A-pair of vertically extending vpznallel'l-beams or standards 24 are iixedly attached tothe baseplate and supported thereon. Inorder strips of aluminum alloy metal having thdesired tensile strength, and `angularly disposed, so as to` support the frame structure inra vertical position when in use, the flanges of thai-beams being lined with semi-cylindrical krail' members lfuncti'oning as guides'and supports for rollers'used' in guiding the foot in alvertical path.

Another object ofthis inventionV is to provide a pneumatic drive used in actuating the jack screw, having mounted thereon a lifting foot, lthe s ame jack screw being a lower range of levels.

to prevent titling of the I-beams with'respect to the base 20, a pair of brackets 26, which may be referred to as heel brackets, are secured to the rear flanges of the I-beams 24 and rigidly bolted to the base plate20. In addition to the heelrbrackets: 26, a pair of toe brackets 28 are mounted on the front side of the I-beams and bolted thereto and also bolted to the base plate 20. These I-beanis A capping member 30 is fixedly attached :to thev I-beams4 24 supporting the upper ends of the I-beams in fixed spaced relation. The vI-beams 24 are braced by a pair of braces 32 attached to theV opposite sides of the capping member byrscrews or bolts 33, the braces 32 extending downwardly to a bracket 34 attached in space relation from the bottom of theI-beams 24. The braces 32 have' their'lower ends 32a extending inwardly and are attached to the base 20 by suitable bolts 36. A gear casing 40, positioned between the l-bearnsY 24, and liiXe-dly attachedto the baseplate 2),V has journalled therein a jack screw 42. v The lower end of the jack screw 42 has keyed thereto a bevelled gear 4217 resting uponra,

race 46"of an end thrust ball bearing having a stationary" race 48 resting upon a support 21, threadedly engagingy the Ygear casing 40.` As clearly seen in Figure 3, there is a gap 23 between the leading edge of the support 21` and the base plate 2li.V This gapV extends rearwardlyvto approximately fthe center of thefaxis of rotation of .the

i and the gear casing.

ljack screw 42, so that when a load is thrown upon the jack screw 42, as will be explained more fully later, the

gear casing is permitted to rock upon the base 20, so asl to ,eliminate any binding` action between the jack-'screw' Suitable anti-friction bearings 50 are mounted in the annular bearing seat in races 46 and 48. vThe upper end of the jack screw 42 terminates in a cylindrical portion 59 journalled in a bearing seated in a suitablelcavity in the cappingumember 30. The div ameter of the cylindrical portion 59 is substantially equal to the diameter of member 42 measured at the root 4of by the reference numeral' 6ft. The controls and the source of energy for the air motor will be described more fully later.`

As may best'be seen by referring to Figures 3 and 4,.V the jack screw 42 is used in actuating a nut 70Y non-rotatablymounted-,in a vertically disposed carriage 72 provided` with a; vertically disposed aperture, through which the jack screw 42 extends. The carriage 72` is provided with afoot portion 74 that projects forwardly between the I-beams 24, The carriage is guided ina vertical path by Suitable groot/edi wheels 80l and 82, the grooved wheels 80 being' arranged on` opposite sides of the carriage near the topV thereof and the grooved wheels 82 being arranged en opposite si-ds of the carriage near the bottom thereof. These groovedv` wheels 80 and 82 rideV pressure againstI the rails 86. The wheels 80 and 82, v

being: provided with semi-cylindrical shaped annular grooves, will always track on the rails 86 and 88, even though the flanges will Hex slightly. It is quiteV obvious that the load: upon the. footr portion 74 will cause the carriage 72jto tend to spread the inner anges of the I-beams 24.VV Being theseY I-beams are made from such material as aluminum alloy, there will bea tendency for the webs of the I'beams to Hex or bend, so thatthe inner I-beam` Y ilangeswilltend-to-move outwardly and the outer I-beam anges will `tend to move toward each other. the Lbeams has been provided with a vertically disposed plate 90, as best seen in Figure 5, snugly seated between the outer flanges of the I-beams. The plates 90 cooperate with kthe webs 92` to prevent buckling of the webs and thereby deter flexing of the anges. By utilizing` semi-circular or semicylindrical rails and grooved wheels, the.wheels will properly track on the rails, even though there may be a slight flexing when the-foot portion A7 4 supports an extremely heavy load.

A-l bearing` collar 94, as best seenin Figure 4, is posi'- tionedf between the nut 70 and a'shoulder 96` projecting inwardly fromthe aperture in the carriage72. This bearing collar 94relieves vany binding action that mighttend to occur if the nut 70 were integral with the carriage by'allowing the nut to shift in the carriage. By rotat- Each of ing the jack screw, it can readily be seen that the car- Y ria'ge 72 and the foot portion 74 may be raised and lowered. When raised upwardly, the carriage may engage ,the collar 61, causing this collar to be slid upwardlyY on the'` reduced portion 59'.

A three-way (up, off and down) valve member 100 is manually controlled by a lever 102 for opening and closing the valve. By opening the valve, air may be admittedY to the air motor from a hose 106 connected to a suitable air supply. As the valve 100 .is opened, air is admittedrto the air motor, which drives the jack screw in one direction or the other, depending upon which way the three-way valve 100V is opened, as is well known to Y those skilledin the art.

The safety device includes an air shutoi arm 110 connected to the valve 1.00' and projecting between the twox I`bea`ms where-the arm .is secured to a vertically disposed shaft 112 journalled in brackets 114 and 116, supported upon the I-beams upon suitable cross members 118 and 120 respectively. The shaft 112 supports at its lower end a cam and' at it's upper end another cam 132, the cams 130 and 132 being mounted in the path of a pin 134 projecting from the carriage 72. By this arrangement, if the carriage 72 is lowered to a vulnerable position, the pin 134 will engage the cam surface 130 to rotate the shaft 112, thereby actuating the arm 110 to close the valve supplying air to the air motor. Likewise, if the' carriage is raised' upwardly to such an extent that the pin 134- comes inv Vcontact with the cam 132, the shaft 1'll2y is again rotated, so as to cause the arm 110 to close the valve.

A plurality of these high liftr jacks may be usedin lifting heavy vehicles, such as diesel engines, locomotives, et cetera, as clearly illustrated in Figure 8. That being the case, it is necessary to provide dollies or trucks to permit wheeling the jacks in position. This has been accomplished by mounting an axle or shaft 131 journalled insuitable. bearings in brackets 28. The brackets 28 may be provided' with tubular extensions' 28a for supporting the shaft or axle. The outer ends of` the shaft 131 have keyed theretobracke'ts 1'33 having fixedly secured thereto spindles 13S, rotatably supporting the wheels 136, there beingv one wheel on either si-de of the jack. A controlY bracket is keyedto the axle or shaft 131 and is mounted between the brackets 2S, so that as the bracket`140 is rotated, the axle or shaft 131 is rotated, and thereby the brackets 133 are rotated so as to raise or lower the wheels 136 with respect to the jack.

Due to the fact that these jacks are extremely heavy, a power-mechanism is Vused in/actuating the bracket 140 in a clockwise or counterclockwi'se direction, as viewed in Figure 7.v The bracket 140 has pivotally attached' thereto` a pair of-,li'nk-like members 142 interconnected' by a transverse men'1b'e1`r144` adapted to engage thelower end` of a bracket146'v pivotally attached to the upper ends of link members 1.42'. The bracket 146 is, normally biased into the extended position by a torsion spring 148. The upper' endY ofthev bracket 146 is provided' with a slot adaptedto receive the downwardly projecting lip or ange 150' projectingVv downwardly from the carriage 72. Thus, by rotating the jaek screw 42 by theair motor, so as to lower the carriage 72, to cause theli'p 150' to engage the bracket 1746, itv can readily be' seen that the brackets 133 will' bejrotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 7; so asto cause the wheels 136 to engage the oor, or base, upon' which the jack stands, to raise the forward end ofthe jack up from the iloor. The rear end of the jack is provided with a rearwardly projecting member providedwith a cam surface 172 on eitherrside thereof, adapted to engage a cam 174 mounted on a handle 176 pivotally mounted at 178 to aifork 180 supporting a wheel 182. The fork ,180 terminates in a stubshaft positioned in an aperture in member 170; In member 170 there is a spring ,not shown, that biases the fork 180 and the wheel 182upwardly, so that the wheel 182 is suspended in spaced relation fromthe floor when the handle is in the up and dottedposition, asrshown in Figure 7. As the handle 176 is rotated from, the; dot-dash position Yshown in Figure, 7 intothe full linev position shown in Figure 7`, the cam 174engaging the cam follower 172.

raises the rear end.- of the jack up vfrom the iioor. By this arrangement, it is` possible, forthe operator totow the jack from one positionY to another by manipulating the. handle 176;' This handle is also .used in steering the wheel 182,` so as to control the direction of movement of the jack.

When the jack isVV actuated into position, as shown in Figure 8, there being one jack for each corner of the diesel engine, the handle 176- is raised from the full line position shown in Figure 7 to thedot-dash position shown in this ig'ur,eso asY to lower the rear end ofthe jack. The motoris connected by a suitable hose 106 tothe air supply. The jack screw isfrotated in the opposite direction from which the brackets 133 .were rotated in raising` the jack from the oor, so as to cause the forward end ofthe jack to rest upon the foot pads 22. The bracket -142 may then be folded into the position shown in Figure 3.

In the event it is necessary to lower the foot portion 74 to a position lower than the releasing position of the wheels shown in Figure 7, the carriage 72 may be lowered with the outer link members 142 in the position shown in Figure 3 until the lip 150 engages the links 140. Then, by lowering the carriage 72, the lip 150 engaging the links 140 raises or lowers the wheels, as the case may be, with the foot portion in a lower position, in which event it is adapted to be projected under a load to be lifted only slightly higherv than the top of the foot portion 74.

All of the jacks that are to be used for raising a loco- `motive are moved `into position prior to the raising ofA After the jacks have been moved into i the locomotive. position, a hose from each of the motors of the jacks are connected to a common source of supply of air under pressure. The relativeA movement of the several motors `and the several jack screws 42 raising the several foot portions 74 is controlled by a plurality of valves 190, one for each jack. The operator tending the valves 190 observes the position of the several foot portions VV74 by observing" the Ygraduated Yscale200 found on each jack and the indicant 202 traveling with the carriage 72. If

f 6 t ,for supporting the third wheel, a lever pivotally attached to the bifurcated fork, and cam means actuated in response to movement of the lever for raising and lowering the third wheel with respect to the base of the jack.

3. A device according to claim l, wherein the third wheel means includes a bracket having a vertically disposed recess, means for supporting the bracket near one end of the base with the recess being located in a portion projecting beyond the end of the base, a substantially vertip cally disposed shaft pivotally mounted in the recess, a bifurcated yoke projecting downwardly from the lower end of the shaft for supporting the third wheel, a `lever pivotally mounted to the yoke, and eccentric cam means mounted on the lever so that as the lever is rotated about its pivot, the cam means engages the bracket to raise and lower the third wheel with respect tothe base.

4. A high lift jack assembly according to claim l, wherein the bracket means attached to the shaft and aligned with the abutment portion of the 'carriage includes aV main bracket portion and a link extension pivotally mounted to the Vmain bracket portion,'the link extension when vertically disposed projecting upwardly to engage the abutment portion at a higher level than when the one jack travels faster than the others, the'corresponding valve 190 is partially closed, so as to reduce the air supply to that particular jack. Thus, it is possible to raise all four corners of a locomotive uniformly.

In some casesl the normal position of the foot portion 74 may be too low to raise the body to the proper height. A foot extender 212 may be slipped over the end of the foot portion 74, so that the top of member 210 engages the under side of the load. A foot extender, having the proper height for a particular job, may be used. Y

Although the preferred embodiment of the device has been described, it will be understood that within the purview of this invention various `changes may be made in the form, details, proportion and arrangement of parts, the combination thereof and mode of operation, which generally stated consist in a device capable of carrying out the objects set forth, as disclosed and defined in the appended claims. l

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A high lift jack assembly including a base, a vertically disposed jack screw supported upon the base, frame means extending upwardly from the base for supporting the upper end of the jack screw, a carriage mounted upon the jack screw and guided by the frame means, said' carriage having a downwardly projecting abutment portion, and a Wheel assembly for transporting the high lift jack Y from one position to another, said wheel assembly including a horizontally disposed shaft, means for pivotally mounting the shaft in spaced relation from the base and near one end thereof, a pair of brackets, one on each end of the shaft and fixedly keyed to the shaft, a pair of pintles, one for each of thebrackets` and xedlyrattached V thereto, wheels mounted onthe pintles, bracket means attached to the shaft and aligned with the downwardly projecting abutment portion of the Vcarriage so that as the carriage is lowered the abutment portion engages the bracket means to rotate the shaft to thereby lower the wheels with respect to the base of the high lift jack to raise one end of the base upwardly, a third wheel means 2. A high llift jack assembly according to claim 1,1

wherein the third wheel means includes a bifurcated fork link extension is folded so as to extend parallel to the main bracket portion.

5. A high lift jack assembly according to claim l, wherein the bracket means includes pivotally mounted extension means having two positions, one a vertical position and the other a horizontal position, ,the abutment portion engaging the extension means when in the verti- V, cal position and engaging the main body ofV therbracket means when the extension means is in a horizontal position. 6. The combination of a high lift jack with a truck assembly for transporting the high lift jack, said high lift jack including a frame assembly having a base, a vertically disposed jack screw rotatably mounted upon the base, a vertically disposed frame for supporting 'the upper end of the jack screw, said vertically disposed frame projecting upwardly from the base, a carriage mounted upon the jack screw, said carriage having a foot portion, said truck assembly including a pair of front wheels and a rear wheel, means responsive to the downward movement of the carriage for lowering at least some of the Wheels with respect to the base so as to shift the support of the jack screw from the base to the wheels, said means including a safety mechanism adapted to buckle in the vevent the wheels are lowered beyond predetermined limits.

7. The combination of a high lift jack with a truck assembly for transporting the high lift jack, said high lift jack including a base normally supporting the high lift jack, a vertically disposed jack screw mounted upon the base, means for supporting the upper end of the jack screw, a carriage mounted for verticalmovement'by the jack screw, said truck assembly including a pair of front wheels, means for lowering the front wheels in response to vertical movement of the carriage, said last mentioned means including a safety device for disengaging the ca rriage from said means when the front Wheels are lowered beyond a predetermined position.

References Cited in the file of this patent Y UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,490,198 Boone Dec. 6, 1949 

